“In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light from the word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import—the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels’ messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention.”
Testimonies (9T 19.1)
“God's purpose in giving the third angel's message to the world is to prepare a people to stand true to Him during the investigative judgment. This is the purpose for which we establish and maintain our publishing houses, our schools, our sanitariums, hygienic restaurants, treatment rooms, and food factories. This is our purpose in carrying forward every line of work in the cause.”
Manuscript Releases (1MR 228.2)
Preparing a people to stand true
“From eternal ages it was God's purpose that every created being, from the bright and holy seraph to man, should be a temple for the indwelling of the Creator. Because of sin, humanity ceased to be a temple for God.”
Desire of Ages (DA 161.1)
God desires to dwell inside of us, but as a people we became uninhabitable; however God still desired to be as close to us as He could without destroying our darkness with His light.
“And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them..”
Exodus 25:8
While God lived with us in the earthly Sanctuary, that was not His perfect plan... God wishes to prepare a people who He can once again dwell in.
“Jesus announced His mission to cleanse the heart from the defilement of sin...”
Desire of Ages (DA 161.1)
Jesus mission is to cleanse us from sin! How can we understand this process better?!?
“Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?.”
Psalms 77:13
“We have such an High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.”
Hebrews 8:1-2
Jesus work today is in the Heavenly Sanctuary, we would be wise to understand what His role is there and what our role must be.
“All need to become more intelligent in regard to the work of the atonement, which is going on in the sanctuary above. When this grand truth is seen and understood, those who hold it will work in harmony with Christ to prepare a people to stand in the great day of God, and their efforts will be successful.”
Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5 (5T 575.1)
“... after the close of Jesus’ mediation, the saints were living in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor.”
Early Writings (EW 280.2)
“Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator. Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort they must be conquerors in the battle with evil. While the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God's people upon earth. This work is more clearly presented in the messages of Revelation 14.”
E.G. White - Christ in His Sanctuary (CIHS 153.1)
“The seal of the living God will be placed upon those only who bear a likeness to Christ in character.”
SDA Bible Commentary 7:970
“I also saw that many do not realize what they must be in order to live in the sight of the Lord without a high priest in the sanctuary through the time of trouble. Those who receive the seal of the living God and are protected in the time of trouble must reflect the image of Jesus fully.”
Early Writings (EW 71.1)
“We cannot wait until the judgment before we consent to deny self and to lift the cross. We cannot then form characters for heaven.”
E. G. White, Sermon “Preparation for the Judgment”
June 27, 1886, Orebro, Sweden
“God demands of us that we build a character that will stand that close test of the judgment. We will not have His protection in the time when the flood comes, if at that time it is found that we have wasted the hours of probation granted us now to build characters for eternity. For the character which we now build is not only for time, but for eternity.”
E. G. White, Sermon “Hearing and Doing"
Santa Rosa, California Sabbath, March 7, 1885
“There is nothing that satan fears so much as that the people of God shall clear the way by removing every hindrance, so that the Lord can pour out His Spirit upon a languishing church.... Every temptation, every opposing influence, whether open or secret, may be successfully resisted...”
Selected Messages 1:124 (1887)
“It was not the will of God that the coming of Christ should be thus delayed.”
Selected Messages Book 1 (1SM 68.3)
“God did not design that His people, Israel, should wander forty years in the wilderness… But those to whom it was first preached, went not in because of unbelief’ (Heb. 3:19). Their hearts were filled with murmuring, rebellion, and hatred, and He could not fulfill His covenant with them.”
Selected Messages Book 1 (1SM 68.3)
“I know that if the people of God had preserved a living connection with Him, if they had obeyed His Word, they would today be in the heavenly Canaan.”
Selected Messages Book 1 (1SM 68.3)
Why did Israelites not enter into Canaan?
Let’s go at once to take the land,we can certainly conquer it! Numbers 13:30
We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are! Numbers 13:31
“Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held fast their faith, and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God, receiving the message of the third angel and in the power of the Holy Spirit proclaiming it to the world, they would have seen the salvation of God, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts, the work would have been completed, and Christ would have come ere this to receive His people to their reward.”
E. G. White Manuscript 4, 1883, in “Testimony of Jesus,” pp. 99. 100 (EGWMR 32.1)
We have a role to play!
God is waiting for us!
“Christ is in the heavenly sanctuary, and he is there to make an atonement for the people. He is there to present his wounded side and pierced hands to his Father. He is there to plead for his Church that is upon the earth. He is cleansing the sanctuary from the sins of the people. What is our work? It is our work to be in harmony with the work of Christ. By faith we are to work with him, to be in union with him.”
E.G. White, Review & Herald, January 28, 1890
“We are to give ourselves to the service of God, and we should seek to make the offering as nearly perfect as possible. God will not be pleased with anything less than the best we can offer. Those who love Him with all the heart, will desire to give Him the best service of the life, and they will be constantly seeking to bring every power of their being into harmony with the laws that will promote their ability to do His will.”
Patriarchs & Prophets (PP 352.3)
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
Romans 12:1
“If men are willing to be molded, there will be brought about a sanctification of the whole being...”
Acts of Apostles (AA 52.5)
The “Final Generation” is the generation which carries the purpose God has set. Will we choose to be part of the final generation?
“When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.”
Christ’s Object Lessons (COL 69.1)
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.”
1 Peter 2:9
The Ultimate Mission:
Vindicate the Father
The role of the final generation is to demonstrate that Satan is a liar and that his accusations against God and His law are false. From the very beginning of the great controversy, Satan—once the covering cherub—declared that no human could keep the law of God after Adam’s fall. He claimed the entire human race was under his control, irrevocably bound by sin.
The role of the final generation is to demonstrate that Satan is a liar and that his accusations against God and His law are false. From the very beginning of the great controversy, Satan—once the covering cherub—declared that no human could keep the law of God after Adam’s fall. He claimed the entire human race was under his control, irrevocably bound by sin.
“satan, the fallen angel, had declared that no man could keep the law of God after the disobedience of Adam. He claimed the whole race under his control.”
Selected Messages (3SM 136.1)
In response to Satan’s claim, Jesus Christ came to earth to live as a man and to show that not only could the law be kept, but that fallen humanity, through faith in Him, could also prove that His law is both righteous and achievable. Christ’s life was the ultimate refutation of Satan’s charges.
“In heaven Satan had declared that the sin of Adam revealed that human beings could not keep the law of God, and he sought to carry the universe with him in this belief. Satan's words appeared to be true, but Christ came to unmask the deceiver. He came that through trial and dispute of the claims of Satan in the great conflict, He might demonstrate that a ransom had been found. The Majesty of heaven would undertake the cause of man, and with the same facilities that man may obtain, stand the test and proving of God as man must stand it.”
Manuscript Releases, vol. 16 (16MR 115.1)
Jesus’ life of perfect obedience showed that Satan’s argument was a lie. He proved that obedience to God's law is possible, even for those living in the sinful human condition. However, this victory is not merely historical; it has ongoing implications. The final generation is called to continue this work of refuting Satan’s claims.
It is essential to keep in mind that the Great Controversy is not just about humanity—it’s about the reputation of the Father. Satan has accused God of being unjust, and the entire universe is watching to see how God’s character will be vindicated.
“In the opening of the great controversy, satan had declared that the law of God could not be obeyed, that justice was inconsistent with mercy, and that, should the law be broken, it would be impossible for the sinner to be pardoned. Every sin must meet its punishment, urged satan; and if God should remit the punishment of sin, He would not be a God of truth and justice. When men broke the law of God, and defied His will, satan exulted. It was proved, he declared, that the law could not be obeyed; man could not be forgiven. Because he, after his rebellion, had been banished from heaven, satan claimed that the human race must be forever shut out from God's favor. God could not be just, he urged, and yet show mercy to the sinner.”
Desire of Ages (DA 761.4)
The final generation’s role is to show that God’s law is just and that, with the grace provided by Jesus, it can be kept. Their obedience will serve as the ultimate testimony to God’s fairness and righteousness.